THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF LIFE 31 



wild life, and that they are subject to subtle sifting in 

 the struggle for existence. This is a theory of evolution 

 clear enough to be going on with. It is a theory in 

 terms of factors which are verifiable to-day and open to 

 experimental study. Now, this theory of evolution 

 must, of course, apply to Man, who is no ' Grand Excep- 

 tion ' ; and in this special case, just as in general, there 

 are two propositions. In the first place, Man is an 

 antique, the long result of time, the outcome of a complex 

 pedigree. He is solidary with the rest of creation, 

 though also strangely apart. He is affiliated to mam- 

 mals, though " in apprehension how like a god." In 

 the second place, Man has a natural history behind 

 him, and, ignorant as we are, it is possible to say some- 

 thing clear and firm in regard to the factors in the 

 great ascent. Man's precise origin is hidden in obscurity, 

 but we know in a general way the pit whence he was 

 digged and the rock whence he was hewn — ^namely, 

 the Primate or Simian stock of mammals. We cannot 

 tell with any precision how he won his way upwards, 

 but we have more than glimpses of some of the factors, 

 and the inquiry — still very young — is full of promise. 

 Both for Man and for the whole realm of living creatures, 

 two things are practically certain : first, that the present 

 has grown out of the past in a continuous way, with 

 jerks now and then, perhaps, but with no gaps ; and, 

 second, that some of the factors in the process have been 

 discovered, that more are likely to be discovered, and 

 that those we know have their counterparts in actual 

 operation to-day. 



